This key committee is responsible for all legislation dealing with public retirement law, and public retiree and employee health insurance. It is also the Public Service Committee that decides which bills will be advanced towards passage.

Of the 17 legislators who make up the Committee, just six have previous Public Service experience. The remaining 11, including the two chairmen, are new to the area of public retirement.

However, both chairmen, Senator David Magnani (D-Framingham) and Representative Robert Koczera (D-New Bedford), are veteran legislators with a strong record of support for public retirees. Each has expressed a desire to work closely with the Association’s legislative team.

Magnani and Koczera have replaced Senator Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) and Rep. Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill) as chairmen of Public Service. Chandler now chairs the Committee on Housing and Urban Development; Dempsey chairs the Committee on Science and Technology.

Koczera has been able to retain the Committee’s Research Director Ted Miller. A native of Weymouth, Miller is a veteran of the Committee and is seen as one of the few experts on public retirement within state government.

Serving as vice chairmen of the Committee will be Senator Steven Tolman (D-Brighton) and Rep. Elizabeth Malia (D-Jamaica Plain). Tolman has long been a strong supporter of organized labor and public retirees. Malia, who was named vice chairman late in the last session, has quickly risen through the ranks in the House since being elected in 1998.

“We feel very confident in the leadership team that the Speaker and Senate President have put in place. These are folks familiar to our legislative team who have records of supporting public retirees,” said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel.